Science

Science is the cornerstone for how fish, wildlife, plants
and their habitats are managed at the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge. Refuge biologists are always working to
identify new flora and fauna, to assess historic and future ecological change
at multiple spatial scales, to ensure that game and furbearer species are
managed responsibly, and to better understand how a warming climate, an
increasing urban interface, recreation and other human activities impact our
natural systems. Biologists apply
cutting-edge approaches in GIS and spatial modeling, database management, conservation
genetics, and biological inventorying and monitoring to address these
needs. They also work collaboratively
with fellow scientists from other agencies, universities and
organizations. The Refuge maintains a 600
ft2 laboratory, an herbarium, and arthropod collection.

Graduate researchers, visiting scientists, and biological
interns are often hosted by the Refuge to support relevant research. In recent years, graduate research has
focused on the historic fire regime, shrub encroachment into drying peatlands,
carbon cycling in wetlands, rising treeline in the Kenai Mountains, exotic
earthworm invasion, American marten colonization of the Kenai Lowlands, insect
diversity and distribution, shorebird populations on Chickaloon Flats, and
soundscape modeling.

Inventorying and monitoring refuge resources are also
critical components of the science program. The Refuge’s Long Term Ecological
Monitoring Program (LTEMP) was launched in 2004 to monitor changes in
biodiversity. Working collaboratively
with the Forest Service’s Forest Inventory & Analysis program, over 1,000
species of vascular plants, lichens, mosses, liverworts, birds, and arthropods
have been inventoried on 255 plots systematically distributed at 5-km intervals
across the refuge.

In addition to LTEMP, birds are monitored on two Breeding
Bird Survey routes, the Christmas Bird Count, and an Alaska Landbird Survey
site at Birch Lake. Breeding and
wintering bald eagles are monitored by fixed-wing aircraft and boat,
respectively. Aerial surveys to monitor
trumpeter swan productivity have been flown for over 50 years. Migrating waterfowl and shorebird populations
are routinely monitored at Kenai Flats in Cook Inlet and Chickaloon Flats in
Turnagain Arm.

Refuge biologists work with their Alaska Department of Fish
and Game counterparts to monitor abundance and other demographics of caribou,
moose, goat and sheep populations with aerial surveys and radio telemetry. Wolverine densities in the Kenai Mountains
were recently estimated from aerial winter track counts. The brown bear population was recently
estimated on the Refuge and Chugach National Forest using a DNA-based
mark-recapture approach. Snowshoe hare
population cycles are monitored on five long-term plots.

Vegetation responses to fire are monitored on 71 plots established
during 1994-2001 using protocols outlined in the National Park Service’s Fire
Monitoring Handbook. Eleven long-term
“Hakala” plots were also established in 1950 in the aftermath of the 1947 burn. Seven fenced moose exclosures of varying
sizes were established in the 1960s and 1980s to assess how moose browsing (or
the lack of it) affected vegetation.
Invasive plants are monitored on 74 long-term plots established within
the human footprint of the Refuge.

Climate and weather
are monitored at several Remote Automated Weather Stations (RAWS); NRCS SNOTEL,
Snow Course, and snow benchmark stations; and one NOAA Climate Reference
Network station. Spatial modeling and the forecasting of species
redistributions in response to a changing climate are new areas of scientific
research. Using down-scaled climate data
from the Scenarios Network for Alaska Planning, Refuge biologists have modeled
changes in species, species richness, and vegetation distributions over the
remainder of this century to help us plan for climate change adaptation.